Means for protecting ships from fire.



No. 824,578v PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906,

H. W. MCKINNE.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING SHIPS FROM FIRE. APPLICATIQN FILED JUi\E8,1905.

Suva nfo-L n ll whom it mag concern.- I

;.Be.-it known that LHAYwooD'WJMo- Kny nnya citizen ofthe United-States, residing at'Kinston, in the county of Lenoir and State 'of N orth' Carolina-,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means.

for; Protecting Ships fromFire, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to" means whereby the presence of fire maybeeasily' detected and located in any of the various compartments orbins in the hold of a ship.

. It consists, essentially, of a series of airpassages having communication with the respective compartments and converging to a central point where thermometers are, so placed as to indicate the temperature of the air circulating through the passages.

' It has for its object to produce a device of this character which can be easily and quickly installed on any vessel, which is simple in construction, and which will positively give warning of the presence of a critical tempera- It)ure in any of the closed compartments or Fora full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, 111 which- Figure 1 is a sectional view through the hull of a ship, showing my device applied thereto. 'F' 2 shows a modification which may be use instead of the thermometers. Fi 3 also shows a similar modification.

orresponding and like arts are referred to in the followin description and indicated in all the views 0? the drawings by the'same reference characters.

The numeral 1 designates the hull of a ship, and 2 represents closed bins or com artments thereinl Tubes or air-passages3 ead from the upper part of these bins to a common cen- 5 telybut are prevented from coming into oontact with each other, so that the temperature of one tube will have no effect (upon the ,others The ends of the tubes in communication with the bins 2 are flared outwardly at 4,

.50 so that the air can have ready access thereto.

Thermometers 5 are placed in the opposite ends of the passages, so as to indicate the temperature of the air comin 1 therethrou h.

1 These thermometers are held in position hy bending the extremities of the tubes 3 in- Ward, as seen at 10, and are so located that a Specification of Letters Intent.

a Application filed June 8,1905. .Serial No. 284,831.

1 FEB STA PATENT narwoonw. McKlNNE, or KINSTQN, NORTH; CARGLKNA.

mksans 'ros secretaries snipe Fania Finn.

Patented June 1%03:

thebulhs are within the tubes or passages, while thescale portion projects outwardly.

This has the advantage of rend ring the then mometers very sensitive to the temperature of the air within the passages and also of en-- abling them to be eas1ly read by the inspector or other person'whose duty it may be to see that the temperature of the compartments does not'exceed-a certain. point. in order to facilitate the circulation of the air through the passages 3, a series of openings 6 are formed near the outer ends thereof.

In operation the heated air in the compartpassages, and t e temperature thereof.

e observed by means of the thermom the can

eters. Should a critical temperature be reached, the operator can easily locate the position of and take precautions to alleviate L same before it has a chance to spread or dc much damage. 5 tubes 12 may be substituted, which con tain open columns of mercury or other suitable li uid? and pistons 8,wh1ch are so placed that w on t e critical temperature is reached the liquid will force same upward andrelease the catch of a spring-o erated bell ill, and

thus sound an alarm. he same result could be accomplished by placing wires 9 so that any undue rise of the mercury wouldclose an electric circuit and ring a hell or give warning in any suitable manner.

While the invention is particularly designed for the detection of fire in ships, it will be ohvious that it would he within the spirit of the invention to use it in an building or ware house containing a num er of closed cone partments'in which merchandise is adapted to be stored. I I

An essential feature of the'invention re sides in the provision of a mechanism for in dicating when the temperature of the air cir culatin throu h the passages reaches a erit ical point, am this mechanism may either give a visual indication, as shown in big. 1, or an audibleindication, as shown in Figs. 2 and Havin thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is r 1. The combination of a compartment, a tubelof approximately uniform crosssection leading upwardly from the top of the compertinent so that the warmer and li hter air therein will ascend freely through the tube, said tube having a series of openings near its outer end, an outwardly-flaring receiving ments expands and passes upward through.

Instead of the thermometers member at the lower end of said tube, inwardly-extending flanges at the outer end of said tube, a second tube fitting within the outer end of the first-mentioned tube and held in position by the inwardly-extending flanges, a column of expansible liquid within the second tube, and means for causing said expansible liquid to indicate when the temperature of the air within the firstmentioned tube reaches a critical point.

2. The combination of a compartment, a tube of approximately uniform cross-section leading upwardly from the top of the compartment so that the warmer and li hter air therein will ascend freely through t e tube, said tube having a series of openings near its outer end, an outwardly-flaring receiving member at the lower end of said tube, inwardly-extending flanges at the outer end of said tube, a second tube fitting within the outer end of the first-mentioned tube and held in position by the inwardly-extending flanges, a column of expansible liquid within the second tube, a piston fitting within the second tube and operated by the expansible liquid, a bell, and means for ringing the bell when the piston has reached a'predetermined position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

nuwoou'w. MCKINNE. [t 8.] Witnesses:

J. B. CUMMINGS,

E. B. WHITEHURST. 

